It has been conventional practice in the railroad industry to package spikes in rather large containers, such as kegs, holding for example about 240 to 250 spikes. Such containers weigh well over 200 pounds. As a consequence of lifting such heavy loads, back injuries have become prevalent among workers in this field. The cut spikes in particular are dangerous to handle because they have sharp chisel points. Past packaging and handling practice has been to load the bulk spikes into a metal keg of approximately 26 gauge thickness. Due to the random orientation of the spikes in the keg, the sharp chisel points penetrate the relatively thin gauge metal walls and protrude from the kegs as they are tipped over and transported during normal handling. The sharp spike points and the sharp burrs on the metal kegs caused by such spike penetration of the keg walls cause serious personnel injuries to the handlers.
In efforts to overcome such problem, attempts have been made to package spikes in smaller packages, for example of corrugated paperboard. Such attempts have not been successful, however. Such boxes become weakened when exposed to high moisture conditions and, due to the great weight of the contents, are easily ruptured. Also, due to the random orientation of the spikes, such packages are prone to penetration of the paperboard walls by the spikes thereby creating the potential for cut-type injuries and well as loss of contents. In addition, environmentally safe disposal of the large number of empty boxes is difficult. Although ultimately biodegradable, such degradation takes a long time; open air burning is not an acceptable alternative, and collection and recycling of widely dispersed boxes is time-consuming and costly.